I know The Avengers opens later this week, so be forewarned: This is not an Iron Man prequel. The Giant Mechanical Man is a small movie with an equal number of charms and flaws.

It stars the poor man’s Amy Adams, Jenna Fischer. You know—Pam—who we’ve all grown a little tired of by now on The Office. In this she portrays Janice, a likable enough sad sack who might as well be closing up the library in Pottersville. It’s as if Pam never moved to Scranton, got a job at Dunder-Mifflin, or met Jim.

Enter Chris Messina, best known for the highly forgettable role of Vicky’s fiance in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. He plays the titular mechanical man, but not actually a robot. He’s a street performer who paints himself silver. (Who uses a brush. I imagine I’d use some sort of makeup pad or sponge, but then again I like to think they consulted the Blue Men or somebody.)

The characters are on a depression crash course: She’s broke and directionless, he’s newly single, semi-broke, semi-directionless, and silver. So they buy a zoo. No, no, but they get jobs at a zoo. You know, meet cute.

Writer/director Lee Kirk is Fischer’s husband, so you know she didn’t have to audition. Kirk seems stronger at directing than at writing. The movie has a pleasant, grey, downbeat feel to it. (Detroit does a very nice job playing itself.) There are nice individual moments. Fischer and Messina turn in solid performances and display some chemistry. But the script often lets them down. Characters coincidentally show up exactly where they need to be, as if some screenwriter placed them there. The behind-the-scenes zoo office dialogue is fairly embarrassing. Maybe the consulting budget was blown on the Blue Men because it doesn’t feel like they talked to any zoo professionals. Actually, it doesn’t feel like Kirk has ever held down any sort of “real” job.

There’s also a strange sort of ’90s feel to the movie and I’m not sure why. Janice’s cellphone is turned off early in the movie, but I think that’s only so she can’t locate the mechanical man later on. And both characters look for jobs in newspaper want-ads. I kept expecting the Smashing Pumpkins to show up.

In the supporting cast you get Lucy Punch, who had more to do in the not-very-good Dinner for Schmucks. Bob Odenkirk gets even less to do—he’s only in one scene. Janice’s sister is the lovely Malin Akerman, who remains lovely, and the brother-in-law is Harry from Mad Men, who at least makes some decent facial expressions. (Yeah, like Malin Akerman would marry him.) Topher Grace plays a self-obsessed self-help author. It’s fun to see him with long hair and Topher tries his best to make the character lively. Unfortunately the script renders him highly unrealistic.

It’s not a bad movie, though not a particularly good one. I had an OK time watching it, and there’s a little food-for-thought for those outside the workaday world. I’d say it’s ideal for plane viewing or a grey day at home on cable. Or, go see The Avengers if you prefer that sort of mechanical man.